Al-Qamishli

Al-Qamishli القامشلي Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܙܠܝ̈ܢ‎, translit. Bēṯ Zālīn Kurdish: Qamişlo‎
City
Al-Qamishli Location of Al-Qamishli in Syria
Coordinates: 37°03′N 41°13′E / 37.05°N 41.22°E / 37.05; 41.22Coordinates: 37°03′N 41°13′E / 37.05°N 41.22°E / 37.05; 41.22
Country	Syria
Governorate	al-Hasakah
District	al-Qamishli
Subdistrict	al-Qamishli
Established	1926 (1926)
Elevation	455 m (1,493 ft)
Population (2004)[1]	184,231
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Area code	+963 52
Geocode	C4564

Al-Qamishli (Arabic: القامشلي‎‎, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܙܠܝ̈ܢ‎, translit. Bēṯ Zālīn, lit. 'House of Reeds', Kurdish: Qamişlo‎), is a city in northeastern Syria on the border with Turkey, adjoining the Turkish city of Nusaybin, and close to Iraq. According to the 2004 census, Al-Qamishli had a population of 184,231.^[1] Al-Qamishli is 680 kilometres (420 mi) northeast of Damascus.^[2]

The city is the administrative capital of the Al-Qamishli District of Al-Hasakah Governorate, and the administrative center of Nahiya al-Qamishli consisting of 92 localities with a combined population of 232,095 in 2004. In the course of the Rojava conflict, al-Qamishli became the de facto capital of the Federation of Northern Syria – Rojava.^[3][4]

Etymology

The city was initially a small village inhabited by Assyrians/Syriacs called Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܙܠܝ̈ܢ‎, translit. Bēṯ Zālīn meaning House of Reeds. The current name is a Turkified form of it, where "Kamış" means "reed" in Turkish. (Turkish: Kamışlı)

Demographics

The President's street

With a population of 184,231 (2004 Census), Al-Qamishli is among the 10 largest cities in Syria by population.

Al-Qamishli is an ethnically mixed city, inhabited predominantly by Arabs, Assyrians, Kurds and Armenians, with Assyrians and Armenians making up a significant minority. The city is considered to be a Christian center in Syria. The city was founded by Assyrian/Syriac refugees fleeing the Assyrian genocide in modern Turkey. Today, Kurds, Assyrians, Arabs and Armenians (about 8500, of whom 2000 are Armenian Catholics^[5]) live in the city.^[6]

The pre-war population of the Christians in al-Qamishli was about 40,000, of whom 25,000 belonged to the Syriac Orthodox Church, the biggest church in the city. Today it is believed that half of all Christians have left the town.^[7]

Al-Qamishli was also home to a significant Jewish community. In the 1930s the Jewish population of al-Qamishli numbered 3,000. Since 1947, the situation of the Jews of al-Qamishli deteriorated. All Jews employed in government offices were sacked at once. Many Jewish women were imprisoned and beaten with the approval of the authorities. Massive exodus of Jews from Syria peaked due to violence, such as the 1947 Anti-Jewish riots in Aleppo. By 1963, the community had dwindled to 800 Jewish persons, and after the Six-Day War it went down further to 150 of whom only few remain today. Unlike the Syrian Jews of Damascus and Aleppo who are a mixture of Sephardi Jews and Musta'arabi Jews, the Jews of al-Qamishli originate in the ancient Jewish community of Nusaybin, which was also depopulated during the creation of Israel.

History

Al-Qamishli streets during Christmas days

Al-Qamishli is situated at the base of the Taurus Mountains, located near the area of ancient Hurrian city of Urkesh which was founded during the fourth millennium BC.

The city dates back to the 1920s, when a sizable amount of Assyrians escaping the Assyrian genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire fled from northwestern Iran and southern Turkey built a small town which they initially called Bet-Zalin. One of the most important funders of the early development projects in the city was Masoud Asfar, an Assyrian who survived the Massacres of Diyarbakır (1895) as a young child. Masoud, along with stepbrother, whose last name was Najjar, established the Asfar & Najjar Corporation, a company that produced wheat in Al-Qamishli. Throughout the 1920s-1940s, the Asfar & Najjar Corporation funded hospitals, Assyrian schools, and churches throughout the city. However, in the 1960s and until the late 1970s, when Assyrians constituted two-thirds of the city's population, the government of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region actively confiscated Assyrian farms, lands, and areas, causing an Assyrian exodus. At this same time, many Kurds, fleeing persecution from Iraq and Turkey, moved in to the region.^[8]

The city itself (not the Assyrian Bet Zalin) was officially founded as Al-Qamishli in 1926 as a railway station on the Taurus railway.^[9]

Al-Qamishli, the second largest city in al-Hasakah Governorate, is considered a center for both the Kurdish and the Assyrian ethnic groups in Syria. It is renowned for throwing a large Christmas parade every year in December, as well as celebrating Newroz festival by a large crowd every year in March.

In March 2004, during a chaotic soccer match, a 2004 al-Qamishli riots began when some people started praising Saddam Hussein, turning the match into political conflict against the Kurds. The riot expanded out of the stadium and weapons were used against people of Kurdish background. In the aftermath, at least 30 Kurds were killed as the Syrian security services took over the city.^[10] The event became known the "al-Qamishli massacre".

In June 2005, thousands of Kurds demonstrated in Al-Qamishli to protest the assassination of Sheikh Khaznawi, a Kurdish cleric in Syria, resulting in the death of one policeman and injury to four Kurds.^[11][12] In March 2008, according to Human Rights Watch,^[13] Kurds were also killed when Syrian security forces opened fire on the Kurds when celebrating the spring festival of Newroz and purportedly gathering to revive the 2004 riot in Al-Qamishli. The shooting left three people dead.

With the Syrian Civil War and the Rojava conflict from 2011, the city grew into a major political role.

Government

Current division of the city

The Assad government remains in control of the airport, the border crossing, and some government buildings. They also have control over the Arab and some Christian neighborhoods of the city, but most of the city is under the administration of the de facto Federation of Northern Syria – Rojava,^[14] whereby the city serves as the capital of Jazira Canton as well as the capital of the federation as a whole.

While the situation has proved stable over the years, there have been occasional instances of armed conflict between loyalists of the Assad government and Rojava, the most notable being the April 2016 Qamishli clashes.

Climate

The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate is "Csa" (Mediterranean climate; dry-summer subtropical climate).^[15]

Transportation

Al-Qamishli Granaries

It has an international airport, Al-Qamishli Airport, with International Air Transport Association airport code KAC.

Syrian Railways operated a freight and passenger railway service to other parts of Syria from the city.

Media and education

The Kurdish-language newspaper Nu Dem has its headquarters in Al-Qamishli.^[2]

While prior to the Rojava conflict, there had been no institution of higher education in northeastern Syria, in September 2014 the Mesopotamian Social Sciences Academy started teaching.^[16][17] Following the University of Afrin,^[18] the Jazira Canton's Board of Education in July 2016 officially established the second Syrian Kurdish university in Qamishli. The University of Rojava initially comprises four faculties for Medicine, Engineering, Sciences, and Arts and Humanities. Programs taught include health, oil, computer and agricultural engineering; physics, chemistry, history, psychology, geography, mathematics and primary school teaching and Kurdish literature.^[19][20]

See also

• Assyrians in Syria
• Kurds in Syria
• 2004 al-Qamishli riots
• 2015 al-Qamishli bombings
• Qamishli clashes (April 2016)
• Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Al-Qamishli

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Qamishli.

• Kurds in Al-Qamishli

Cities and towns of Syria
Governorate centres	Aleppo Damascus Daraa Deir ez-Zor Hama al-Hasakah Homs Idlib Latakia Quneitra Ar-Raqqah Rif Dimashq al-Suwayda Tartus
District centres	Abu Kamal Afrin Arihah Atarib Ayn al-Arab Azaz al-Bab Baniyas Darayya Dayr Hafir Douma Duraykish Fiq al-Haffah Harem Izra' Jableh Jarabulus Jisr ash-Shugur Maarat al-Numaan al-Malikiyah Manbij Masyaf Mayadin Mhardeh al-Mukharram al-Foqani an-Nabk Palmyra Qamishli Qardaha Qatana Qudsaya al-Qusayr al-Qutayfah Ra's al-'Ayn al-Rastan as-Safira Safita Salamiyah Salkhad al-Sanamayn Shahba ash-Shaykh Badr al-Suqaylabiyah Talkalakh al-Tall Tell Abyad al-Thawrah Yabrud Zabadani
Sub-district centres	Abu Qilqil Abu al-Thuhur Akhtarin Amuda Arbeen Arima al-Ariqah al-Arishah Armanaz Arwad al-Asharah Assal al-Ward Awj Ayn al-Fijah Ayn Halaqim Ayn Issa Ayn al-Nasr Babbila Banan Barri Sharqi Beit Jinn Binnish Bir al-Helu Bosra Bulbul Busayrah Da'el al-Dana Darat Izza Darkush al-Darbasiyah Deir Atiyah al-Dimas al-Dumayr Furqlus Ghabaghib Ghandoura al-Ghariyah al-Ghizlaniyah al-Hader Hadidah al-Hajar al-Aswad al-Hajib Hajin al-Hamidiyah al-Hamraa Harasta Harbnafsah Harran al-Awamid al-Hirak Hish Hisyah al-Hawl Huraytan al-Huwash Ibbin Samaan Ihsim Jayrud al-Jalaa al-Janudiyah Jaramana al-Jarniyah Jasim al-Jawadiyah Jubb al-Jarrah Jubb Ramlah Jindires al-Jiza al-Qabu Kafr Batna Kafr Nabl Kafr Takharim Kafr Zita al-Karamah al-Kasrah Kessab al-Khafsah Khan Shaykhun Khasham Kirnaz Kuwayris Sharqi Khanaser Khirbet Ghazaleh Khirbet al-Tin Mahmoud al-Kiswah Ma'arrat Misrin Maabatli Maadan Ma'loula Madaya Mahin Malah al-Malihah al-Mansurah Mare' Markada Mashta al-Helu Maskanah al-Masmiyah al-Mazraa Muhambal Muhasan al-Musayfirah al-Mushannaf Muzayrib al-Nashabiyah al-Nasirah Nawa Nubl al-Qadmus al-Qahtaniyah Qalaat al-Madiq Qarah al-Qaryatayn al-Qurayya Qurqania Rajo Rankus Rasm Harmil al-Imam al-Rai al-Riqama al-Ruhaybah al-Saan Saasaa Sabburah al-Sabe' Biyar al-Sabkhah Sadad Sahnaya Saidnaya Salqin Saraqib Sarmin Sarrin Sawran Sebei al-Shaddadah al-Shajara Shaqqa Sharran Shathah Shaykh al-Hadid al-Shaykh Maskin Shayukh Tahtani Shin Sinjar Sirghaya Slinfah Suluk al-Sur al-Surah al-Saghirah Suran al-Susah al-Sukhnah al-Tabni Talbiseh Taldou al-Tamanah Tasil Tell al-Daman Tell Hamis Tell Rifaat Tell Salhab Tell Tamer Tedef Thiban Uqayribat Urum al-Kubra Wadi al-Oyun al-Yaarubiyah al-Zurbah az-Ziyarah

Al-Hasakah Governorate
Capital: Al-Hasakah
	Al-Hasakah District Al-Hasakah Abu Hajirat Khuatana Abu Tinah al-Alwa al-Arishah Bir al-Helou Bureij Sharqi Dashishah Gharbiyah al-Fadghami al-Fakkah Markada Ghabshah al-Ghariri al-Haddadiyah al-Hajiyah al-Hawl Al-Kharitah Khatuniyah Markada Markada Sharqiyah Qaber Shamiyah al-Sabaa wa Arbain al-Saadah Safia al-Shaddadeh al-Shaykh Hamad Sumayhan Gharbi Tell Arboush Tell Balouaah Tell Baz Tell Brak Tell Bureij Tell Damshij Tell Fuweidat Jazira Tell Goran Tell Hefyan Tell Hermez Tell Jazira Tell Jedaya Tell Jemaah Tell Kifji Tell Maghas Tell Majdal Tell Makhadah Tell Massas Tell Nasri Tell Ruman Tell Safouk Tell Sakra Tell Shamah Tell Shamiram Tell Tal Tell Talaah Tell Tamer Tell Tawil Tell Tawil Gharbi al-Tweinah Umm Ghargan Umm al-Keif Umm Madfaa
	Al-Qamishli District Al-Qamishli Amuda Jimaayah al-Manathirah al-Qahtaniyah al-Tannuriyah Tell Hamis Tell Maaruf Umm al-Fursan
	Al-Malikiyah District Al-Malikiyah al-Jawadiyah al-Muabbada Maashuq Sabaa Jafar Suwaydiyah Fawqani al-Tabaqah Tell Adas Tell Arab al-Yaarubiyah
	Ras al-Ayn District Ras al-Ayn Abu Rasin al-Darbasiyah al-Lid Dirbasiyah Mabrouka al-Manajir Tell Halaf Tell Sinan Sharqi Umm al-Dibs Dirbasiyah

Rojava articles
History	Syrian Civil War Rojava conflict History of human rights in Rojava Historic Background of Rojava History of the Kurds History of the Assyrians Archeological Tell Halaf Tell Barri Tell Brak Hamoukar Urkesh Chagar Bazar Tell Arbid Tell Leilan Carchemish Tell Taban Dūr-Katlimmu
Geography	Subdivisions Jazira Canton Kobanî Canton Afrin Canton Shahba region Towns Al-Hasakah Al-Qamishli Manbij Kobanî Afrin Ras al-Ayn Amuda Al-Malikiyah Tell Rifaat Al-Qahtaniyah Al-Shaddadah Al-Muabbada Tell Abyad Al-Sabaa wa Arbain Jandairis Al-Manajir Qabasin Kurd Mountains Khabur River
Politics	Libertarian socialism Libertarian municipalism Democratic Confederalism Jineology Constitution of Rojava Government of Rojava Human rights in Rojava Foreign relations of Rojava Parliament Political parties Voting Police Sutoro Self-Defense Forces Syrian Democratic Forces People's Protection Units Syriac Military Council Army of Revolutionaries Al-Sanadid Forces
Economy	Economy of Rojava
Culture	Flag of Rojava Demographics of Rojava People Kurds Syrians Assyrians Turkmen Armenians Circassians Yazidis Bedouin Languages Northern Kurdish North Mesopotamian Arabic Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Turoyo Syrian Turkmen
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